First meeting in 15 years between Palestinian leaders of Hamas and Fatah

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (2nd right) and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas (center) met through Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune (3rd right).

© THAER GHANAIM/PPO via AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

During the festivities marking the 60th anniversary of Algeria's independence, on Tuesday July 5, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune brought together in Algiers Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, and Ismaïl Haniyeh, leader of Hamas, an Islamist movement in power in the Gaza Strip.

This meeting between the two highest figures of the enemy factions is historic, the first of this type in fifteen years.

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With our correspondent in Ramallah,

Already in December 2021, the Algerian president had invited Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.

The initiative, supposed to promote reconciliation between Fatah, his party, and Hamas, the Islamist party in power in the Gaza Strip, had failed.

No rapprochement had taken place between the two rival groups.

The split dates back to 2007

This split dates back to 2007, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and violently expelled its adversary, leading to an outright war between the two.

Since then, Palestinian factions have been at odds with each other, failing to communicate, and their infighting has paralyzed Palestinian politics.

Each controls a territory: the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority takes care of the 2.8 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Hamas manages the Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade where 2.3 million inhabitants live.

A meeting without follow-up?

The photo of Mahmoud Abbas and Ismaïl Haniyeh shaking hands is historic, especially since the president of the Palestinian Authority canceled the legislative elections which should have been held in 2021 and was strongly criticized by Hamas.

According to government sources, Algeria pressured for this meeting to take place.

For the moment, nothing has been published as to the subject of their discussions.

It is therefore impossible to know whether this meeting between the two rivals heralds a future rapprochement or reconciliation talks, which most Palestinians have been hoping for for years, in order to be able to have new elections.

►Also read: Hamas publishes the video of an Israeli detained in the Gaza Strip

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• Algeria

• Palestinian territories

• Mahmoud Abbas

• Ismail Haniyeh